Jon Allen to release new album 'Deep River'

24 May 2014

Newsdesk

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Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jon Allen will release his new album Deep River on 7th July, 2014 on Monologue Records.

The album is the third of Allen’s career, and the first single released from it, ‘Night & Day’, has already spent five weeks on BBC Radio 2’s playlist (click here to watch the video for ‘Night & Day’: http://youtu.be/kr1PvBgpvmo).

Deep River contains some of Jon’s best work. To him, it’s simple. “I just try to write music that moves me. I’m trying to express some truthfulness. There are no gimmicks, no beeps and whistles.” On it he channels everyone from Dylan to Shakespeare, via Al Green, JJ Cale and John Martyn, and even manages to write a romantic song about bankers (“I know there’s not a lot of sympathy for bankers, but you can get off on retribution, and it’s dangerous”).

He says: “I feel a bit like I’m an outsider, now. I’m very inspired by music that feels like it comes from one of the main tributaries of blues, or jazz, or that kind of heritage. But it’s OK because there’s no such thing as a scene nowadays. You can jump out of the ground looking like 1959, 1979, 1989...”

And the subject matter? “It was what was coming out of me at the time. Ends of relationships, trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing with my life. I feel like there’s a spiritual side to the record ¬– the title track is like a Negro spiritual, about trying to let nature guide me.”

Jon will launch his Deep River album with a live set at The Half Moon in Putney on Wednesday, 18th June 2014. Jon will also appear at the Cornbury Festival on Saturday, 5th July, and Kew The Music on Friday, 18th July. A full UK tour for October 2014 will be announced shortly.